Speed Racers Pt 1 (The Fast and the Furious, 2001)

2000 and 2001 were a good couple of years for Vin Diesel. He had a supporting role in Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan, but only a small spattering of roles before that. His other “big” role was the voice of the titular character in Brad Bird’s the Iron Giant. But between Pitch Black and the Fast and the Furious, Diesel’s value rose prominently.

Rob Cohen (Daylight and Dragonheart) directed this tale of a young and reckless cop who goes undercover into the world of street racing to try and take down some skilled thieves. He of course, gets drawn in much deeper, falling for the sister of his target. You can pretty much connect the dots from there.

The fresh faced Paul Walker is special agent Brian O’Conner. He is trying to catch extremely muscular Vin Diesel’s Dominic Toretto, an infamous street racer and adrenaline junkie thief. He and his gang are pulling off daring heists using their souped up cars.

The Fast and the Furious never promises to be a new take, and it hits all the beats an “Undercover Cop Gets In To Deep” action movie will take. But it does so entertainingly with fun and daring stunts. The film is a complete knockoff of the 1991 Keanu Reeves/Patrick Swayze movie Point Break. A couple years ago that movie got remade. This is the better “remake”. The cast is generally likeable, including Jordana Brewster as Mia, the previously mentioned sister who complicates things and Michelle Rodriguez as Letty, Dom’s girlfriend and fellow thief. The Fast and the Furious is a fun action and popcorn film, though if you told me it would spawn seven more films (and an eighth sequel in the works) I would never have expected it.

July 25, 2017 0

Franchise Adjustment (xXx: State of the Union)

So, one year before Casino Royale, xXx is back. Vin Diesel is not, but yeah, the Franchise soldiers on. Although both Diesel and Rob Cohen were both signed on, they eventually dropped out. In a bit of irony, the film is directed by the director of Die Another Day, Lee Tamahori. Replacing Diesel’s Xander Cage as the new xXx is Ice Cube’s Darius Stone.

Samuel L. Gibson’s Gibbons is back in charge, and they face a situation that requires someone tougher than Cage. That is Darius Stone. Stone is a highly decorated Marine who tried standing up to his corrupt commanding officer and was locked up for it. Stone is pretty much a one man army, as evidenced by his prison escape.

It turns out, his former CO is part of a dark plot that needs Stone, as xXx, to take him and his cronies down. And that is pretty much it. Like it’s predecessor, State of the Union is mostly a showcase for outrageous stunts and action sequences. And snappy comebacks. Ice Cube is always reliable for attitude fueled quips.

The film was very obviously setting itself up for a sequel, setting the franchise up to have a different actor in the role each film. This seems like a setup of necessity. This is a serviceable sequel with the expected performances from it’s cast. If you are looking for deep espionage, xXx: State of the Union is not going to be all that satisfying. It is, however, a pretty fun popcorn action spy movie.

January 21, 2017 0

Breaking Bond (xXx, 2002)

Vin Diesel was a star on the rise. 2000 to 2002 really cemented him as a certain type of action star. He had a hit with the Fast and the Furious. He followed up with the action spy thriller xXx. The film re-teamed Diesel with his The Fast and the Furious Director Rob Cohen.

As spy movies go, the clear inspiration here is James Bond. It follows that template closely. There is the M (Gibbons, played by Samuel L. Jackson), the Q, the gadgets and the girls. And of course, the Bond. Diesel’s Xander Cage is an attempt to flip the Bond formula on it’s head. He has no real interest in being a warrior for his country. Xander is a popular Extreme Sports guy and anarchist who does not suffer fools lightly. His first act is to steal and trash the car of an anti-video game senator.

Xander is pushed by Gibbons to join the Triple X program, as a super spy. He tracks down and engages with the bad guys, meets a girl who may or may not be on the side of good. The story is not the star here. It is Diesel and the stunts. It is a showcase for exciting and death defying acts. And Diesel has a certain charm as the tough guy who walks that line of heroic but driven by ego.

This came out the same year as the final Brosnan Bond film Die Another Day. That film put the Bond Franchise to sleep for a few years. xXx is not a classic, but it definitely had fun with the formula, making for an enjoyable ride.

January 20, 2017 0

Boys and Ghouls At the Movies Part 3 (Ritual, 2006)

The third and final (to date) Tales From the Crypt film is Ritual. You would not realize it is a Tales From the Crypt film though. The reception to Bordello of Blood resulted in the third film being released scrubbed of any Tales From the Crypt Connections. The “Tales from the Crypt Presents” was added to the DVD Box when it was released in the U.S. as a direct to video release, but the film remained as it was in theaters.

This means that the film lacks anything connecting it to the series. Unlike the first to films (which opened and closed with the Crypt Keeper voiced by John Kassir) There is no Crypt Keeper host. No actual references in the titles, no entering the Crypt Keeper’s house and no comic book cover. The irony here is that while they removed those things to avoid the connection after the failure of Bordello of Blood, this generic Voodoo horror thriller desperately could use the flavor of Tales from the Crypt, or at least an actual alteration to the formula as Demon Knight had done.

Written by the Director of the first Fast and Furious film Rob Cohen and the film’s Director Avi Nesher it is loosely based on the 1943 film I Walked With a Zombie.

It tells the tale (get it???) of a disgraced Doctor named Alice (Played by Jennifer Grey) who takes a job in Jamaica tending to a young man with encephalitis. He believes he is a zombie under a curse. And someone seems to be using Jamaican Voodoo to attack Alice.

There is a bit of humor to see that as the films went on, they had less star power than the original show. But the film tackles a topic the show already did, and the show did it in the so much better. This film lacks the humor that was such a big part of the TV series. Which results in a dull and boring film with low level effects. It is not that the film lacks talent, it is that they have a guy like Tim Curry and just give him nothing to do. Why would you want to do that?

Of course, based on this image? Maybe leaving the Dreadlocks sporting Crypt Keeper out of the film was a good idea…

March 2, 2016 0